Mesa/Boogie Mark IV Amplifier manual

OO GI E B M ESA 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954 USA The Spirit of Art in Technology M ARK IV Owner ’ s Manual[...]

H ello from the T one F arm... YOU, the smart player and all around intuitive human, have put your trust in us to be your amplifier company . This is something we do not take lightly . O ur reward is that we ’ ve made a classic amplifier and by choosing this amplifier , you have become part of the MESA family ...W elcome! O ur goal is to never le[...]

T able of Contents MARK IV PRECAUTIONS OVERVIEW _____________________________ 1 FRONT P ANEL: POWER-UP ____________________________ 2 CONTROLS: RHYTHM 1 GAIN ________________________ 3 PULL BRIGHT __________________________ 3 R 1 TREBLE ____________________________ 3 R 1 + R 2 BASS and R 1 + R 2 MID _________ 3 R 1 PRESENCE ________________________[...]

Your MESA/Boogie Amplifier is a professional instrument. Please treat it with respect and operate it properly. USE COMMON SENSE AND ALWAYS OBSERVE THESE PRECAUTIONS: READ AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS OF PROPER USAGE. Do not expose amplifier to moisture, rain or water , direct sunlight or extremely high temperatures. Always insure that amplifier is prope[...]

Operating Instructions M ARK IV MARK IV Congratulations for choosing the MARK IV as your new musical voice. Y ou have purchased a handbuilt instrument of the finest quality and craftsmanship. In 1984 M esa/Boogie introduced the world’s first “T ri-Modal amplifier - the MARK lll - with separate modes for Clean Rhythm, Crunch Rhythm and Lead Over[...]

First familiarize yourself with the layout of the Front Panel and plug in the FU-3 footswitch which is located on the underside of the chassis towards the middle and about mid way forward of the Rear Panel. It’s not necessary to unplug the footswitch after use, simply use the handy fasteners on the left and right side of the cabinet and attach th[...]

P AGE 3 Setting the RHYTHM 1 mode adjusts the input sensitivity for the clean RHYTHM mode. With most guitars, this mode stays clean unt il around 8 where it begins to overdrive. Use the R1 MASTER to control loudness if you want slight overdrive at low volumes. This mode was very carefully designed to provide great rhythm sounds, from the best of vi[...]

This control adjusts frequencies higher than those found on the TREBLE control. There are so many different sounds that RHYTHM 1 can produce, you must experiment using your guitar and your ears. Try settings such as low on the TREBLE control, high on the PRESENCE control...and the opposite...as an experiment, both with and without the BRIGHT switch[...]

This control along with RHYTHM 2’s PRESENCE control should be worked with together to produce the desired gain and brightness of the mode. Setting the TREBLE higher , as always, increases the gain of the mode and allows increased distortion and sustain. Lower settings allow the MID and BASS controls to become more dominant adding warmth to the so[...]

There are also some great singing, slightly distorted sounds that come from low settings of Gain and Drive with F A T pushed in. “Onset of Clip” and “threshold of distortion” are phrases often used to describe these sounds, which reveal the true blue beauty of th e MARK IV ’ s all-tube lineage (see the traditional blues setting on the Sam[...]

P AGE 7 The importance of this switch is a must to understand. At low to medium playing volumes, the LEAD BRIGHT adds desirable sizzle, and gain in the highs to the overdrive sound and contributes to a “big easy feeling” as well. At high volumes the LEAD BRIGHT c an cause real problems, such as excess squealing and noise. At high volumes it is [...]

EQ back out of the circuit, the straight tone sounds to flat. Don’t worry! It’s just “hearing hangover”. All the MARK IV ’ s modes were developed without using the EQ so that it could be an accessory - not a necessity . This control adjusts the playing loudness of all three modes equally . Once you’ve got the sounds set up as you would [...]

P AGE 9 The MARK IV uses a removable I.E.C. type power cord to supply the A.C. power . The power cord supplied with your unit should be used whenever possible as we chose it for its snug fit. Because this type of RECEPT ACLE is somewhat universal and used in many products both in and out of electronic musical instrument domain, you may use other co[...]

P AGE 10 REVERB is a simple depth control which activates the rich all-tube, three-spring analog circuitry . Even though many players hav e more modern digital reverbs and delays, there is still something quite pleasant about this natural-sounding, traditional Reverb system that we think you’ll enjoy . The REVERB effect may seem more intense in s[...]

P AGE 1 1 be able to footswitch in the effects mid-way through a LEAD mode solo, for example. Remember that the MASTERS double as ef fects send controls and the OUTPUT LEVEL also works as an Effects Return control. Following the enormous success of this feature in the Quad and Studio Preamps, where they’ve been used on numerous professional - and[...]

This switch selects between two-tube and four-tube operation in the power section. In the CLASS A position, only the two end po wer tubes are active, producing around 30 watts before clipping when operating TRIODE, or 50 watts when in PENTODE. For the nasties t shredding tone and the greatest amount of power amp distortion, use CLASS A with TWEED P[...]

P AGE 13 ohm speaker should be plugged into the 4 ohm jack. However , please note that M esa/Boogie cannot accept responsibility for any blown 6V6’s incurred during such usage! Proper operation depends totally on the correct setting of the aforementioned switc hes and this will be impossible to verify for warranty tube coverage. So please exercis[...]

P AGE 14 REAR VIEW MKIV (Continued) EXTERNAL SWITCHING JACKS: POWER AMP TRIODE SIMUL-CLASS HARMONICS PENTODE CLASS A SPEAKERS 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM MID GAIN LEAD VOICING MODE SELECT LEAD EX SW FT SW RHY 1 RHY 2 HANDBUILT IN PETALUMA CALIFORNIA EXTERNAL SWITCHING JACKS RHYTHM 1 RHYTHM 2 LEAD CLASS A/ SIMUL FX LOOP EQ These jacks allow remote (usually MI[...]

P AGE 15 PULL SHIFT PULL SHIFT PULL BRIGHT MASTERS LEAD GAIN RHY2 GAIN R1+R2 MID LEAD MID R1+R2 BASS LEAD BASS R1 TREBLE LEAD TREBLE RHY1 GAIN INPUT PULL BRIGHT INSTRUMENT PULL FAT PULL FAT SILENT RECORDING (PULL) EQ LOOP OUTPUT LEVEL STANDBY TWEED POWER M ARK IV R1 R2 ON FULL POWER PRESENCE CONTROLS R2 TREBLE LEAD DRIVE LD 7 8 3 2 PULL SHIFT PULL [...]

P AGE 16 PULL SHIFT PULL SHIFT PULL BRIGHT MASTERS LEAD GAIN RHY2 GAIN R1+R2 MID LEAD MID R1+R2 BASS LEAD BASS R1 TREBLE LEAD TREBLE RHY1 GAIN INPUT PULL BRIGHT INSTRUMENT PULL FAT PULL FAT SILENT RECORDING (PULL) EQ LOOP OUTPUT LEVEL STANDBY TWEED POWER M ARK IV R1 R2 80 240 750 2200 6600 ON FULL POWER PRESENCE CONTROLS R2 TREBLE LEAD DRIVE LD PUL[...]

P AGE 17 Description of Tube Functions V1A= Input Stage V1B= Tone Recovery Stage (post tone controls) V2A= Third Gain Stage (Rhythm Modes) and Fifth Lead Gain Stage V2B= FX Return Stage V3A= First Lead High Gain Stage V3B= Reverb Return V4A= Second Lead High Gain Stage V4B= Reverb Send V5= Phase Inverter Power Tube Substitution: 6V6's in Tweed[...]

P AGE 18 Y ou may occasionally experience some form of tube noise or microphonics. Certainly no cause for alarm, this quirky behavior com es with the territory and the T one. Much like changing a light bulb, you don’t need a technician to cure these types of minor user serviceable annoyances and in fact, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to cu[...]

P AGE 19 Because your amplifier is an all tube design, it is quite possible that you will at some point experience minor pre-amp tube no ise. Rest assured - this is no cause for alarm and you can take care of the problem yourself in a matter of minutes by simply swapping tu bes. Let us begin by saying; It is a “very good” idea to keep at least [...]

P AGE 20 NOTE: An article written by Randall Smith that we thought you might find interesting. Here’s a question we often hear: “Why doesn ’ t Mesa put bias adjustments in their amplifiers?” Well, there’ s a short answer and a long answer to this question. The short answer is that during my 12 years of repairing Fenders, one of the most f[...]

P AGE 21 And that’s right. T ubes don’t effect the bias setting, but the bias setting does effect how the tubes work. But how it effects the tubes is difficult to measure. When you set the bias (whether it’s by selecting the right resistors, as we do, or adjusting a trimmer — which is quicker) wha t you are doing is establishing the correct[...]

Some newer amps have LED indicators connected to the circuit which will turn on when the right threshold of current flow has be en reached. This is an improvement, and almost worthy if you’re willing to except resistors and lights added into your amplifier ’ s audio path — which we aren’t. The other “advantage” of this system is that it[...]

REAR VIEW: MARK IV PULL SHIFT PULL SHIFT PULL BRIGHT MASTERS LEAD GAIN RHY2 GAIN R1+R2 MID LEAD MID R1+R2 BASS LEAD BASS R1 TREBLE LEAD TREBLE RHY1 GAIN INPUT PULL BRIGHT INSTRUMENT PULL FAT PULL FAT SILENT RECORDING (PULL) EQ LOOP OUTPUT LEVEL STANDBY TWEED POWER M ARK IV 80 240 750 2200 6600 ON FULL POWER PRESENCE CONTROLS R2 TREBLE LEAD DRIVE R1[...]

The Spirit of Art in Technology OO GI E B M ESA Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie to be your amplifie r company and we wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument.[...]

The Spirit of Art in Technology 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954 USA (707) 778-6565 FAX NO. (707) 765-1503[...]